In striving to clarify the teachings of Islam regarding sexuality, and inviting the creation to obey their Creator in what He commanded them and prohibited them from, while responding to false claims and misconceptions, we hope to be counted among the callers to Allah, of whom the Qur’an says:

And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah, works righteousness, and says: “I am of the Muslims”?
[41:33]

Name-calling does not hurt us, but it is sad to see how readily the people towards whom this sincere advice and invitation is directed turn against those who – from their hearts – wish the best for them. Sometimes medicine is bitter. The Qur’an provides many examples of the people’s rejection of their prophets and other reformers, which we may exemplify here with the case of the People of Lut (peace be on him):

But his people’s response was only that they said: “Eject them from your town. They are a people who want to be pure!”
[7:82]

When we tell people (Muslims!) that homosexual acts are forbidden in the Qur’an and Sunnah in the strictest terms, and that the person who engages in them will receive severe divine punishments if he does not repent, some people call us oppressors (“homophobes”). Well what should we be, “haramophiles”? If the person who is forbidden from following his desires considers himself oppressed, or – as they say – a victim of discrimination, then who is the guilty party?

When I tell someone to abstain from a sin he is attracted to (and claims to be created desiring it!) I am not his oppressor, because: (1) I did not create him; (2) I did not legislate the prohibition of that act. So if either of these things is the “crime”, then would someone accuse Almighty God!! Glory be to Him, Who does not oppress anyone in the least.

{…And your Lord does not wrong anyone.} [18:49]

In fact, if someone were walking to a place to commit a sin, and he happened to fall and break his leg, this would be the greatest divine mercy upon him. How much better that we receive admonition and heed it, seeking the pleasure of Allah and safety from His wrath.

Finally, as I said to someone who was seeking to justify homosexual acts in the name of mercy: “Our approach says that anyone can be a Companion of Paradise, while yours seeks to give people vain hopes then send them to Hell.”

IslamOnline.net (or rather, its subsite ReadingIslam.com) has once again led the way by featuring the story of Ayub, a brother who embraced Islam after a period of life in which he actively practised homosexuality. His journey is inspirational and his advice is of great value to anyone who wants to understand the path of Islam, which is also the path of self-understanding, life discipline and inner peace.

Ayub is someone we have great pleasure to know, and we ask Allah to reward him abundantly for putting his experiences out there for a wide audience to encounter.

It’s Ramadan again. Last year promoters of a film called “In the Name of Allah” invited people to a cocktail iftar at a San Fran club to raise funds. I only hope they didn’t use hadiths about the Prophet (peace be upon him) being more generous in Ramadan to further their filthy agenda.

Now the film has been released, under a different title: “A Jihad for Love”.
SubhanAllah, I don’t know which title is more crass!

On behalf of the brothers and sisters at the StraightWay Foundation, we would like to wish all our readers Ramadan Mubarak. Indeed it is the greatest month of struggle for every Muslim, a time when bad habits can be broken and desires overcome, in preparation for the rest of the year and the rest of our lives. We’re praying for you – please remember us too.

This is one of the common refrains and undertones in the not-quite-dialogue between the Queer Muslims and the wider Muslim community to whom they are too terrified to justify their deviant opinions and actions.

Whether it’s the confused individuals trying to find their way through difficult feelings and questions (for whom we have patience and sympathy) — or those few contemptible people who try to mislead others with emotional rhetoric and pseudo-theological sophistry — the claim that “Allah made me this way” is something that needs a bit of analysis.

“Ward off passing thoughts, for if you do not, they will become ideas.
Ward off ideas, for if you do not, they will become desires.
Fight the desires, for if you do not, they will become intentions.
If you do not resist them, they will become actions.
If you do not repel them with their opposites, they will become habits,
and it will be difficult to get rid of them.”

From Al-Fawâ’id of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

With thanks to the all-round excellent and interesting Crescent Life website.

Excerpt from The Message of Sûrah al-`Asr by Sh. Salman Al-Oadah
(Part 4 – see also Parts 1, 2 and 3).

How can a young man or woman be patient in the face of the temptations and trials that inflame their desires when unlawful gratification is within their easy reach? The best way for such a person to fortify his or her patience is as follows:

1. He should contemplate the greatness of Allah and think that Allah sees him when he is disobedient. Nothing that we do escapes His attention. He sees and hears all things. This is what the Prophet (peace be upon him) meant when he said: “A fornicator is not a believer at the time that he is committing fornication, an imbiber is not a believer while he is engaged in drinking, a thief is not a believer while he is in the act of stealing.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (2475) and Sahîh Muslim (57)] this is because a person who is conscious of Allah watching over him will feel ashamed to do the things that Allah has prohibited or to neglect his duties towards Allah. Consider a man who is naked or engaged in some vulgar deed and discovers that someone is looking at him through a crack in the door. Will he not be ashamed and embarrassed? Will he not be unable to look that person in the eye?

Look who’s back in the news again. In an “exclusive” (because nobody else wants to) two part interview with Voice of America [1,2], Ayaan tries to gain back some spotlight after being exposed as a liar and being hired by none other than the notorious right wing “think” tank the American Enterprise Institue. We will let readers for themselves question Hirsi’s intentions in attacking Islam when she describes herself as an atheist. Let us, however, examine some of her [term used loosely] quotes.

I decided — and it’s a private decision, I am not propagating atheism – but I decided that I do not believe in the existence of a hell and a heaven and a hereafter.

[…]

I’ve spoken to thousands of Muslims who are compassionate people who do not want to kill. They do not want to become the enemies of unbelievers, or see unbelievers as enemies, non-Muslims as enemies. But there is always the barrier, the threat of hell. If you disobey God, then you go to Hell.

A Unique Perspective

Here we discuss the concept and emergence of "Gay Muslims", considering that homosexual activity is clearly forbidden in Islam. We kindly advise Muslims struggling with same-sex attraction, affirming that nobody is sinful for what they feel inside. As for those people who try to distort the religion, we refute them soundly with evidence.